Artículo No. 33 THE SHIA CRESCENT

The Shia Crescent is a geo-political term used to describe a region of the Middle East where the majority population is Shi'a, or where there is a strong Shi'a minority in the population. It has been used to describe the potential for cooperation among these areas in Middle Eastern politics. The corresponding term is especially common in German, where it is known as Schiitischer Halbmond ("shia halfmoon"). This term was coined^[1] by Abdullah II, king of Jordan, after which it became popular in political debates.

The nations where Shi'a Muslims form a dominant majority are Azerbaijan, Iran, Bahrain and Iraq, a plurality inLebanon

 and large minorities in Turkey, Afghanistan,Pakistan

, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, India, UAE, and Syria. The shape of these countries put together does in fact resemble a crescent moon or a half moon (see map).

§                     Michael Bröning: The Myth of the Shia Crescent, in: Project Syndicate May 2008 (Text is also available in French, Spanish, Russian, Chinese and Czech).

§                     Crescent: “The Shia Crescent”, (English)

§                     The Gulf 2000 project SIPA Columbia University: [1]

§                     Le Monde diplomatique: Die Schiiten und ihr Kampf um Gott (German)

§                     Deutsche Welle: Die Hisbollah in der arabischen Misstrauensfalle (German)

§                     Deutsche Welle: Nahost-Experte: Iran will schiitische Achse aufbauen (German)

§                     Brockhaus: Ulrich Ladurner: Machtpoker am Persischen Golf (German)

§                     Der Tagesspiegel: Der schiitische Halbmond (German)

§                     Die Zeit: Regime unter Druck - Nach der Irak-Wahl fürchten die arabischenNachbarnstaaten das gewachsene Selbstbewusstsein der Schiiten (German)

§                     Ferhad Ibrahim: Iran und die arabische Welt, in: Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte, Nr. 9, Bonn 2004, S. 39-47.(German)

§                     Vali Nasr: When the Shiites Rise in: Foreign Affairs July/August 2006, pp. 58– 74.

§                     Asher Susser: Aufgang des schiitischen Halbmonds, in: Internationale Politik, Nr. 9, 61. Jahr, (2006), pp. 68-.74 (German)

1.   ^ Ian Black. Fear of a Shia full moon:Events are proving that the king of Jordan was right to warn of a 'Shia crescent' across the Middle East - even though the phrase was a tad undiplomatic, writes Ian Black. The Guardian, 26 January 2007